As is well known and understood, percussors are but one of the therapeutic devices used to treat cystic fibrosis and other lung disorders. In general, these devices are used to clear lung passages, so that breathing may become easier and so that the possibility of bacterial infection often associated with lung cloggage may be reduced. In addition to the use of percussors, inhalation therapy for lung disorders has also employed air compressors and nebulizers, frequently to atomize medication to a mist, to be applied via mask attachments in an attempt to unclog air passages and kill-off bacteria which amass there. A second therapy employs an inhalation tent and untrasonic mist to surround a body within a fog, on the theory that if the body is kept wet outside, the lobes of the lungs will be kept wet inside, and mucus clogging will be reduced.
In the therapeutic treatment of cystic fibrosis utilizing presently known percussors, a child (for cystic fibrosis is generally a genetic disease which affects children) is held in an inclined position and the reciprocating action of the moving element of the percussor is used to mechanically "clap" around the lung areas in an attempt to break up the mucus blockage. The treatment is continued, with the percussor operating at one location, until the child starts to cough, an indication that the lung passage is beginning to clear. The percussor is then moved to a second location, and the mechanical clapping treatment begun anew in a further attempt to work the mucus free of the lung passages. Besides re-positioning the percussor, the child is also re-oriented, in an attempt to take advantage of gravity in causing the mucus to break and flow.
There are, however, many disadvantages to the use of these percussors. First of all, as cystic fibrosis is a disease which children are born with, and as these children are generally unable to be kept still during the treatment, one hand almost always is placed on the child's body to insure the correct positioning of the percussor while the other hand is used to support and guide the percussor. As these known percussors resemble mechanical sabre saws having a suction cup at its blade end to provide the reciprocating "clapping" motion, as they weigh in order of 10-15 pounds each, as their reciprocating motions exert a force on the hand and arm using it, and as the treatment could last for hours on end during some critical periods of illness, it will be seen that their usage, although necessary to the treatment, becomes quite strenuous and tiring. Secondly, the reciprocating mechanical linkage provides an unyeilding pressure force, such that, to prevent against damage to kidneys, vertebrae, ribs, etc. during treatment, the placement of the percussor is critical. This is all the more important as the suction cup employed covers a relatively large portion of the child's body, and the mechanical percussor's weight and translated force can cause injury even while treating. Furthermore, the high piercing frequencies and the high noise levels of these mechanical percussors have been found to be particularly annoying, if not frightening, to the child. At times, their exhaust motors have been noted to exhibit a tendency to draw the child's hair into the machine, pulling the child after it. Also, mechanical percussors cannot be used in the oxygen rich environment of a hospital room, because of the possible sparking of the electrically powered machine in these combustible atmospheres.
Nevertheless, mechanical percussors continue to find wide acceptance because of their ability to bring up mucus and unclog the lung passages more effectively than manual, hand clapping -- and, although the treatment still may take hours, it continues to be a much faster treatment than manual attempts to break up the mucus cloggage. In an attempt to hasten the clearing of the lung passage even more, the ultrasonic mist tent or the air compressor-nebulizer arrangement previously referred to are oftentimes used as treatment prior to any use of these mechanical percussors.